I have been wanting to do a post like this for awhile now. Thanks to Ethan @ Do The Math for posting his finds and putting the idea back into my head.

The record store is still a place where I love to hang. Music you don’t usually know playing a little too loud while you dive into the bins trying to find the deal of the century – you know, that original mono pressing of an early Zappa album for $.99. More likely, you’ll be luckier with that at a thrift shop where things like that slip through the cracks. Maybe it’s my love of High Fidelity that keeps me going in. Or maybe it’s just that I’m one of those guys who still loves the feeling you get when you drop the needle or press play on something you’ve never heard.

With everyone saying that retail is dead, I’ve been making a concerted effort to support at least 2 of my 4 favorite Chicago record stores every month – Dusty Groove on Ashland, Permanent Records on Chicago Ave, Reckless Records (all 3 locations), and of course Jazz Record Mart. Not that I continue to grasp at the music industry of the past. I just really dig the time spent there. Records stores are like my saloon, I guess – I spend a little too much time there, and when I get home, sometimes I can’t figure out where all my money went. And lately, each of these stores have had a lot of people shopping. Good to see.

Anyway, this past weekend, I went to Permanent and the Reckless on Broadway. My finds are below.